5.27.2016

Autistic Vampires: Discuss!

True Blood is my current laundry-time watching, even though it's even sillier than I'd thought possible. A few days ago Iz (whose last day of school ever was today, *sob*) and I recently talked about the infinite directions True Blood silliness takes, and our discussion took an interesting tangent when she asked me what aspects of
being a vampire might complicate being autistic. So I asked friends what they thought. And the discussion was so ... delicious (like, Fae blood delicious) that I just have to share some of it here (with permission of the discussants). Feel free to join the conversation!

What Are Some Ways Being An Autistic Vampire Could Be, Well, Complicated?

Hair cuts don't stay. It regrows each night. semi-mythos/LARP. On the other hand, there are powers to make people not see you, so...

Emily Paige Ballou: Yeah, if I recall correctly, vampires are supposed to have super senses independent of being autistic. So an autistic vampire....

Matt Carey: I think of the hungry tiger of Oz. Too nice too eat others. What about the hungry vampire of Aus? A sensory aversion to the texture or taste of blood?

Emily Paige Ballou: Sensory
challenges. Blood has a really distinctive consistency and scent,
which may be difficult for an autistic vampire ... as well as the
necessity of being very close to people in an intimate way for the
purposes of biting them...

Matt Carey: How about the difficulty of using hypnotic eyes when you don't like to make eye contact?

Emily Paige Ballou:Also an
autistic vampire might also have a very rigid moral code which would
make the whole biting people thing problematic. You might have to come
up with some kind of consensual blood-sharing agreement.

Shannon Des Roches Rosa: This was Iz's concern.

Emily Paige Ballou: I mean, there are people who'd probably be into that ... but I don't know how much you want to explain *that* to her yet...

...and the probability of being able to find those people in some of the darker corners of the internet.

Christine Langager: Not much can be improved when it's already near-perfection as is 🤓

Emily Paige Ballou: ;P

Rory Patton: Their
moral code may well include having the right to bite others because
their own self preservation is more important and besides some people
deserve to get bitten (I have a list).

Emily Paige Ballou: Vampires are supposed to be very seductive, but we tend to be bad at flirting.

Jessica Banks: I
have major food texture issues, and the thought of having to drink
something as thick as blood makes me gag. Also, I'm not a champion
sleeper, but I think I could dig that dead from dawn to dusk thing.

Sunday Stilwell:My two vampires would probably love sleeping in a coffin ... all that tight, deep pressure in an enclosed space with cushy pillows.

Maf Vosburgh: Leo could keep the same catch-phrase, "Can I have a bite?".

Ruti Regan: My thought is: this is a question for Tumblr.

Zoe Cannon: An autistic vampire who has trouble with interaction might have trouble luring victims.

Corina Lynn Becker: if
you're a vampire with a sire and other vampires, there is often some
resemblance of vampire society, which means a whole 'nother set of
social rules and rituals (literal and not) to learn, with other members
from all sorts of time periods, soooooooooo democracy not always a
thing.